


The Other Half

by orphan_account



Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), American Idol RPF
Genre: M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-15
Updated: 2011-05-15
Packaged: 2017-10-19 10:56:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/200075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adam returns home after a successful world tour and in the midst of catching up with friends and beginning work on a second album, he finds himself romantically involved with his good friend Joshua.  True love, however, doesn't happen easily, especially between a virgo and an aquarius.  Josh is a complicated person, and Rahab adds a whole level of complexity to the relationship that Adam didn't anticipate in the beginning.  Adam's always found himself curiously drawn to both Joshua and Rahab, but he doesn't know whether the relationship can work until he realizes that it has to, that he's fallen for them both.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Other Half

**Author's Note:**

> [Art](http://taxcha.livejournal.com/69824.html) by Taxcha  
> 

Adam heard her laugh before he was able to spot her through the crowd but once he saw the cherry-red curls piled on her head, the short dress and extremely high heels, he couldn’t take his eyes away. She was faced away from him but he could see she was talking enthusiastically, hands gesturing as she told whatever wild story he imagined she was telling. He worked his way through the people to slip up beside her. He whispered to her in a faux deep voice, “Hey baby, wanna dance?” as he slid his hand along her hip.

She turned, squealing “ADAM!” as she threw her arms around neck, hugging him tightly. “I thought you weren’t back ‘til next week!”

Adam couldn’t help but laugh. “Careful there, might show off something you didn’t mean to with that tiny scrap of silk you’re wearing,” he told her, winking.

“Would I have dressed like this if I didn’t mean to show off everything?”

They kept up the banter as Rahab turned to introduce Adam to the couple she’d been talking to before, Adam still holding her to him with his hand along her back.

He let the conversation flow around him, settling into being back and not having to be the center of everyone’s attention for a few minutes.

During a brief pause in the conversation, he offered to grab everyone a round of drinks then made his way to the bar, Rahab tagging along just behind him as he pushed his way through the crowd of undulating bodies. They reached a small gap in the cluster of people by the bar and slipped their way through, Adam leaning against the bar to communicate their drink order over the din of the club.

The bartender, a slender twink of a blonde wearing a tank top that didn’t seem to be the slightest bit functional, filled their drink order quickly and winked at Adam when he gave the guy a hefty tip. Adam just smiled like he didn’t know what the guy had in mind and asked Rahab, “Baby, give me a hand with the drinks?” He had to admit the guy was cute, but he wasn’t here for that, not tonight anyway.

After another trek through the jungle of people, they handed out drinks and greeted the friends that had arrived in their absence, some of whom Adam hadn’t seen since his video shoot for “If I Had You”.

The group was noisy, full of laughter, hugs and shouted commentary. He was talking to Roxy about a fashion show when the music changed. The energy in the club was infectious and when he heard the song change and the noise level of the whole crowd go up, he squealed, grabbing both Roxy and Rahab by the hands and yelling “Come dance with me, bitches!” They danced and grinded, bodies pressed hot and close around them as they moved to the music, and he thought to himself, “Damn, am I glad to be home.” With that, he let loose, not caring who was watching or whether there were cameras.

Tonight he was thinking only about having fun.  
*****  
Adam had been back in LA for a few weeks before he got a text from Josh inviting him out to dinner with some friends. He briefly checked to make sure his schedule was clear before shooting back a text asking when and where to meet them. They made plans for Josh to pick him up so that they could go together. Other than grocery shopping and lunch with his mom, he had nothing planned for the day, so he decided to hit the gym before running his errands.

After a stop at whole foods to restock his fridge and the drugstore to restock his nightstand, he dropped everything off at home and went to meet his mom at their usual place. It was sort of a tradition when he was in LA and could make it to meet with his mom once a week for lunch at this little café that had the most delicious food. It was a mix of styles, a bit of a Mediterranean influence, and they both loved the place.

He often saw his mom for various reasons throughout the week, but rule number one as they sat on the patio outside the café was that they didn’t talk business. They would talk about family and friends, the new guy his mom was seeing, the pictures Neil sent her from his travels, but they tried to avoid the celebrity and just have a bit of mother and son time. It was always refreshing to set it aside for an hour and just be.

She was already at their table when he got there, reading a book that she set aside when she stood up to hug him. They sat down, talking about how nice the weather was after the rainstorms that had come through last week and gave their orders to the waitress, Jenny, when she came by.

“So what are you up to this week?” She asked him.

“Not much. Trying to enjoy my free time before I get back into the studio. Going out to dinner with Josh and a few others tonight.”

He laughed at the look she gave him, her eyebrow arched and a little smile on her face. “What does that look mean?”

“Oh, nothing. Just that you and Josh have been friends for a long time. He seems to be a good guy, interesting. Has a pretty successful jewelry line too, doesn’t he?”

“Mom, you are not going there!” he laughed. “I can find my own boyfriend thank you very much. We’re friends. Well, mostly. Just, we’ve…”

She could see he was a bit flustered and told him, “Okay, okay! I’m sure you can figure it out. I can’t help it, you know me. What would I be if I weren’t a meddlesome mom sometimes?”

Their food arrived shortly after that and his mom dutifully changed the subject. Adam turned the tables on his mom a while later. He told her that he’d heard she was dating someone from Neil and asked when the boyfriend was moving in. She laughed and told him it definitely wasn’t that serious and that it probably wouldn’t ever be, that it was “just a little fun!” He also found out the guy’s name was Mark, and he worked for some investment company in San Leandro. They’d apparently met through a mutual friend and had gone out a couple times.

After they finished their meal and had exhausted other topics of conversation, such as Neil being a jackass – “He’s your brother, it’s his job to send you those ridiculous emails!” – Adam paid the tab and put a tip for Jenny on the table. He’d asked her once when he stopped by for lunch alone what she was doing here in LA, and she’d told him simply, “trying to raise my daughter and go back to school, give her her dreams, ya know?” before proceeding to tell him about the lunch special. He liked her and made sure to ask about how she and her daughter were doing when the place wasn’t too busy. She always seemed surprised that he would care. He waved to her as they left the restaurant and she gave him a brilliant smile in return.

He walked his mom to her car parked down the block, hugging her goodbye and making vague plans to stop by for dinner and meet Mark sometime soon. Before he could walk away she told him, “That boy’s not gonna wait around forever, ya know? He might wake up one day and find somebody else.”

Adam just nodded, giving her a small smile and a wave as he walked away. Sometimes his mom was just too perceptive. He guessed that was a mom’s job though.  
*****  
Adam was just putting the finishing touches on his outfit for tonight (deciding which piece of jewelry to remove before he left the house) when he heard his phone ring. He snatched it off the dresser along with his keys and wallet as he headed for the front of the house. Screw the minimalist trend; he’d wear as much as he wanted.

He answered the phone as he switched off the kitchen light on his way to the door.

“Hey, I’m outside now, sorry for running late. Had to make a last minute stop and drop something off with Jonny for the Puja sale coming up.”

Adam told him, “Not a problem. I’m actually on my way out the door right now, be right there” *click*.

He did a last check in the front hall mirror to make sure everything was in place, checked his pockets to make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything, and headed out the door, a smile gracing his glossed lips as he saw Josh standing against the car waiting for him.

*****

“So, who all is supposed to be meeting us here?” Adam asked Josh as they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. The place was a weird mix of formal attire and fancy dishes with an informal atmosphere and booth seating, and they’d met here with friends a few times before.

“Well, Alisan said she’d be here and would drag Danielle along, Cassidy wanted to come and said he’d try to make it as long as the fashion shoot doesn’t run too late, and David should show up sometime or other.” Adam held the door for him as they reached the entrance to the place, letting Josh lead the way as the hostess seated them in a corner booth near the back of the restaurant. Shortly after being seated, a waiter stopped by to take their drink orders, delivering them both iced teas. They looked through the menu, commenting on things they’d tried and liked. Josh told the waiter when he stopped by to ask when they’d be ready to order, that they’d be waiting for a few more people to show up.

Adam saw Dani and Alisan come through the door less than five minutes later and stood to greet them, bracing himself for the inevitable launch into his arms that he knew by now to expect from Danielle. She hugged him tight and he spun her around for show, laughing as she told him not to get her dizzy. When he set her back on her feet she smiled up at him and told him, “I’ve missed you!” before moving away to greet Josh. Alisan hugged him, her greeting a bit more subdued but no less warm and welcoming than Danielle’s. They all squeezed into the booth, Adam and Josh moving closer to the center to allow the girls to slide in after them. They sat talking, catching Adam up about what was going on in the local scene and the rest of their lives as Adam relayed stories from tour and traveling Europe.

Eventually David arrived and slid into the seat across from Danielle, getting there just in time to order with the rest of them. Dinner with his friends always tended to be a bit raucous, talking over one another and full of laughter. It wasn’t quite so chaotic with only five people at the table but he was still surprised when Cassidy showed up halfway through the meal. He hadn’t even seen him approaching.

They all scooted over slightly so he could fit in and flagged down the waiter so that he could order something small along with another round of drinks for everyone. They’d moved from iced tea to alcohol and the noise level had risen with it, the only lulls in conversation when someone stopped to take a bite of their food.

Adam had zoned out thinking about how strange it was to fit back into this routine so seamlessly and when he tuned back in to the conversation, Cassidy was talking about an upcoming music video. He was describing some original idea he’d had involving helicopters and then talking about the concept they’d come up with that would actually fit within a five thousand dollar budget. He lost the thread of the conversation again when he felt something brush his ear and looked over to see what it was. Josh was holding some sort of strange blue flower in his hand that looked to have been plucked from the small arrangement at the center of the table. He tucked the stem behind Adam’s ear, saying simply, “It matches your eyes as well as your aura.”

Adam held Josh’s gaze, asking him, “What color is your aura?”

“I tend toward shades of green. Maybe I’ll teach you sometime how I learned to read them.”

As the evening wore on, Adam became more and more aware of the warm thigh pressed against his, the brush of fingertips as Josh rearranged his napkin in his lap, until he was practically squirming with wanting to get out of there. The alcohol certainly wasn’t helping, and as the meal died down he was glad when Dani mentioned that she had an early day tomorrow and should get going soon. They said their goodbyes shortly afterward, splitting the tab despite Adam’s protests that it was on him.

He trailed behind the rest of the group on the way out to the parking lot. He was filled with a pleasant warmth as he listened to his friends chatter, the drinks he’d had catching up with him just a bit. All of the drivers had stopped drinking before, but Adam, Dani, and Cassidy were free to indulge. He heard Alisan offer to drop Cassidy off since he’d never bought a new car after his old one was stolen and mostly relied on the metro to get around town. There were hugs all around yet again and plans to get together again sometime soon, and then he and Josh were getting into the car to head back to his house. Adam thought as they drove about the looks Joshua had been giving him all night that he was sure he must have been returning. They’d been flitting around each other like moths for years, having once connected briefly before flittering back apart in the morning light. This felt different though; it felt like more. Adam had learned long ago to trust his gut feelings.

It wasn’t a long drive, but by the time they got there, his body was thrumming. Josh’s hands were a bit tense on the wheel and Adam knew he had to be feeling the energy too. After they pulled in the drive and Josh shut off the ignition, Adam didn’t even have to finish his invitation before Josh was accepting and getting out of the car.

As soon as the front door closed behind them, Josh was lifting himself to bring his mouth to Adam’s, taking him in a kiss that turned into even more. Adam led him to the bedroom, asking him wordlessly if this is what he wanted, and Josh just nodded, undoing the first few buttons and then pulling the blue linen shirt over his head. Adam stepped closer, helping him undo his belt as Josh reached up to undo Adam’s black button-down.

Once their clothes had been stripped away, Adam backed Josh onto the bed, pressing him into the mattress as he took Josh’s lips in another kiss. Their lovemaking was slow but not tentative – it was almost reverential as they brushed skin over skin, lips exploring and fingers touching. They had known each other in a similar way before, but that had been anxious and quick, driven by the knowledge that their time together was brief. There was no such constraint this time. They didn’t sleep until they each had taken time to discover the other, hours later.  
*****  
"You know how she picked her name?" Josh asked, the morning sun just beginning to filter in through the curtains on the far wall as they lay there talking in whispers about what all of this meant.

"I've always wondered but I guess I never thought to ask. She's distracting that way... Tell me?" Adam asked, running his fingers absently through Josh's hair as they lay together.

He spoke softly, telling Adam, "Her name comes from the book of Joshua in the bible. I remember my mother telling us the story when I was young. Rahab was a woman, some say an innkeeper, most say a harlot - of course, any of the women presumptuous enough to actually do anything in there are labeled that way, so who knows…- anyway, Joshua, General of the Israelites, had sent spies to investigate the military strength of the city of Jericho before they invaded. Well, Rahab hid the spies under bundles of flax in the roof when they stopped at her house seeking protection. She knew because of a prophecy that their mission would succeed with or without her help, and in return for her help, they promised to spare her and her family during the invasion of the city so long as she hung a red cord out of her window to mark her house.” He paused for a few seconds, letting his fingers trail down Adam’s chest and along his abdomen, finishing the story as his fingertips danced lightly upon Adam’s skin.

"Rahab was considered one of the most beautiful women ever known, and after the fall of the city, she married Joshua. I guess she thought it was appropriate for a few reasons…"

Adam smiled down at Josh, saying, “So all three of us are named after biblical figures in a way. Interesting coincidence.”

“Who says it’s coincidence? Don’t you believe in fate?” Josh replied, leaning up to press his lips to Adam’s softly. He felt Adam’s fingers tighten in his hair as he deepened the kiss and his other hand hitched Josh’s leg farther up to wrap around his hip. Definitely fate, Josh thought, melting into Adam.

*****

Rahab saw Adam start when the door opened and he saw her standing there – high heels, a slim dress, and hoop earrings, carrying her red clutch. It was supposed to be a date with Joshua. She saw the look on Adam’s face before he managed to hide it, and cringed inwardly, wondering if they were destined to failure. If Adam couldn’t love her, the relationship with Joshua wouldn’t work. They were entwined, she and him, two halves of the same beautiful person, but you couldn’t be in love with just one half for a relationship to work. Especially one between a virgo and an aquarius. They were good friends, and the attraction was there, but Adam was never quite at ease with her the way he was with Joshua. Her smile was tenuous as she took Adam’s proffered hand and walked with him to the mustang in the driveway.

*****

They had been dating for several weeks, but Adam couldn’t help but feel like Joshua was hiding from him. More and more often it was he and Rahab going out, with Joshua nowhere in sight. She was his friend, but she acted differently around him than Joshua did. It was all fun and no seriousness, and he found himself wondering if she would ever let him in or whether they were just going to continue this fooling around until what they’d established before was gone. Those first few weeks had been amazing and he craved that closeness with Rahab as well as Joshua. He thought he’d managed to communicate that, but as the night with Rahab went on, he knew he must not have managed to. Dinner was a tad stilted until Rahab ordered them both vodka martinis and flirted shamelessly with the waiter. From there, anytime Adam tried to steer the conversation toward more serious topics, Rahab would derail his line of thought onto something else. She also managed to talk him into going dancing.

Despite his intentions, he let himself get lost in the drinks and the music, and 2am found Adam and Rahab in the alcove of a dark club, plastered to the wall and to each other, bodies moving with the pulsing beat of the bass. They stumbled into his place at well past four, having taken a taxi because neither was in any shape to drive. They made it to the bedroom and onto the bed. He took one of her heels in his hand, undoing the strap of the high heel and sliding it from her foot before removing the other. He looked up to say something and saw that she was already drifting to sleep, head slid to the side off of the pillow. He shucked his own shoes and pants then crawled up the bed to do the same, too tired to think about much else. His last thought before sleep took him too was that he couldn’t keep doing this.

*****

The next morning, Adam woke with a headache behind his eyes, squinting against the bright light filtering into the room. He found the bed next to him empty and willed himself to get out of bed, pulling himself up to sit on the edge of the bed. He shed the wrinkled dress shirt he’d only managed to unbutton halfway the night before and kicked the pants out of his way as he got out of bed. He pulled a t-shirt from his top drawer and padded toward the bathroom, stopping in the entrance way when he saw Josh standing at the sink in a pair of old pajama pants and one of his holey tank tops. He caught Josh’s eye in the mirror as he removed the last of the night’s makeup from beneath his eyes. Adam knew he must look like shit with his own smeared on his face but that wasn’t the priority right now. He had to say this before he let himself be talked out of it. He knew it would hurt them both.

“I can’t keep doing this with you. I’m sorry.” The words spilled out of his mouth before he could lose his nerve. He was nothing if not honest with himself and others and he couldn’t do the fake good morning routine.

Josh froze with his back turned away from Adam, unsure what to say. At a loss for words he asked, “Doing what?” even though he knew the answer clear as day.

“I-“ Adam’s voice cracked as he searched for the words he knew had to say. “It feels like I’m dating two different people all the time, and I’ve been seeing one of them less and less. When you’re her, we dance and drink and fool around… and I love doing those things, but I need more from a relationship than that.

“We have that when you’re Joshua, we talk about the things that matter to us, what’s important to us, our families.. but lately it feels like you’re using her to avoid getting too serious with me, and I never know which part of you I’ll be meeting until I show up. I come to take you to dinner so that we can talk about where all of this is going and we end up getting plastered and dry humping in the corner of a club. And I know I’m partly to blame, because I let it happen but I keep thinking that maybe, maybe Rahab will let me in the way Joshua has, and we could all be good together. But that doesn’t ever happen, she always keeps just a bit of that wall up, and I can’t keep feeling like this. I love you, Josh, but I just can’t keep feeling like this.”

Adam fiddled nervously with the ring on his finger, staring down at his hands as he waited for Josh to say something in response. At a small choked sound, he looks up to see a tear running down Josh’s cheek.

“You’re right, we can’t keep doing this. Not if you feel that way,” was all he said as he brushed past Adam and into the room. He grabbed Rahab’s shoes and headed for the door before realizing he had no way of getting home. Josh turned to Adam and told him, “I’ll call a taxi and wait downstairs. It’d probably be best if you stayed up here until I’m gone.”

Adam cursed the entire situation as he watched Joshua take the stairs before turning and shutting himself in the bathroom. It hurt more than he wanted to admit that Josh was just willing to give up that easily.

*****

Adam had been in the studio for a few weeks now, recording song after song and working with various writers. All of his own writing was depressing and moody and he kept it to himself for the most part until one of the collaborators saw Adam’s notebook on the couch and read through a few of the songs.

He asked Adam when he returned to the room, “Why have you been keeping this shit to yourself? This is good. Have you considered using it?”

Adam told him he’d thought it wouldn’t work, but was eventually convinced to give it a try. After one take they said the song had to be on the album, and after three more they had it perfected.

He overheard one of them say when they didn’t think he could hear how real he made it feel as he sang, and shut his eyes as he thought too real. It hurt too much.

*****

His hands were shaking as he reached to ring the doorbell. He’d found out through David that she had a show tonight and would probably be getting ready. He stood there clutching the flowers he’d bought, glancing around at the whimsical decorations that littered the porch. He was about to reach out to ring the doorbell again when he heard her yell, “Just a second!” over the music filtering through the window.

He heard the door click and swing open, saw that she was flushed and obviously surprised to see him.

“A-adam, what are you doing here?”

Her makeup was half-finished and she was wearing one of Josh’s old kurtas, her hair piled on top of her head just like that night in the club right after he’d gotten back.

“I came to apologize, and to talk. Can I come in?”

She nodded, stepping back and gesturing for him to step inside. After taking the flowers he offered and closing the door behind him, she led him to the kitchen. He saw her reach to pull down a vase and two glasses. She ran water in the vase then reached for a bottle in another cabinet, pouring them each a healthy splash of whiskey. She handed him a glass wordlessly, clinked hers against the glass in his hand, and tossed it back. When she looked at him and said “It’s medicinal,” he realized he was staring and mimicked her gesture, tossing back the amber liquid and swallowing the burn. He set the glass on the counter, waiting for her to say something. When she just looked at him, he stuck his hand in his pocket, pulling out the tiny strips of paper and holding them out to her. She looked at him, confused, before taking them and turning them over.

He told her, “I found those in my jacket pocket and I knew I couldn’t leave things the way they were.”  
She looked at the first, which read, “Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn,” and realized they were the fortunes from when they ordered Chinese a few Fridays back. The second one, from his cookie, read, “If you are never scared, embarrassed, or hurt, it means you never take chances.”

“I saw those and I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I talked to David and this awesome waitress friend, Jenny, and I realized that I probably failed the test. You were trying to see if you would send me running scared, if I was only really interested in Joshua and not you. And when I said what I did, you took it to mean you were right, and that I couldn’t handle being with you. That’s not what I meant.”

Rahab cut in before he could finish what he was going to say, telling him, “Funny thing – David and I had a little heart to heart not too long ago as well, and he helped me to see that I was running scared. I told myself that I was doing it to see whether you could handle Rahab’s big personality, but what I was doing was only showing you the part of Rahab that the strangers see, that my casual friends know. I stopped showing you even the Rahab that you knew before. I was scared of getting too close because Joshua and I, we’ve been in love with you for years. I think in the process of not wanting to get hurt I fucked it up. So, I’m sorry too. I took what you said that day as the proof I was looking for that you couldn’t handle it. I’m glad I can see that now.”

Adam reached out to take one of her hands in his, thumb brushing over the scarlet nails of her fingers as he prompted her to look up into his eyes. He kissed her softly, just a brush of lips, and she pulled him to her for a hug to hold him close. She stayed there for a minute, face pressed into his neck and breathing in his scent before she pulled back to look at him and reached to hold his hand in hers again.

“Will you come to my show tonight? You can sit front row and watch the performance, and then we can come here afterward and talk some more… We’ve been miserable without you. I’ve been miserable without you.”

Adam nodded yes, then realized he should speak, clearing his throat when the words didn’t come easily.  
“I’d love to. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to see you perform. Then we can order in the Chinese food this time, and talk over chow mein.” He paused before telling her quietly, “I love you,” as he brushed aside a stray curl that had managed to escape from the clip atop her head.

“I love you too, Adam, as Josh and as Rahab. Now come help me with my makeup before I end up missing my own show?”

Adam smiled at her and nodded again, telling her to lead the way and following her toward the back of the house. When she glanced back to catch his eye, he saw that she was still smiling and thought to himself that he was glad they could work things out with a little help from their friends.

*****

Later that night, after having talked and laughed for hours, they made love in the moonlight shining through the bedroom windows. They kissed and whispered, soft laughs and ‘I love you’s caught in each other’s mouths as they moved together. When Adam pushed inside, he entered Joshua as he entered Rahab. When they came, it was the three of them together, and Adam knew this was the beginning of forever for them all. He held his lover close in the aftermath, a kiss pressed against a temple saying all the words that needed to be said.

**Author's Note:**

> Research on Joshua and Rahab was done using wikipedia as well as the following sites:  
> [Joshua Interview](http://yourmamakath.blogspot.com/2010/05/joshua-titchkosky-king-of-puja.html)  
> [Joshua's website ](http://joshuafrompuja.blogspot.com/)  
> For those who don't know who David is: [ David ](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j9U29u30Reo/TbMGg0UdNwI/AAAAAAAAA0s/qaHGePrUF9w/s1600/2849452.pimg.jpeg)


End file.
